Scrap Attack

Anyone who has quilted for close to 40 years more than likely will have some scraps stored away somewhere. I suppose that there are more than a couple tubs of scraps tucked away in the quilting room. The massive amount of scraps has become rather overwhelming. I just haven't had any brilliant thoughts about how to manage it all.

Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and quilt blogs have no shortage of ideas for using scraps. I have followed some blogs and FB groups dedicated to scrap quilting, yet none of the suggestions or methods seemed like they would ever be ones that I could commit to. At times I have tried. There are tubs of strips of varying sizes - 2-, 2.5-, 3-, 4-inches and possibly more. I wouldn't have any idea where to find them - buried somewhere in the depths of scraps.

I believe I have just accidentally found a scrap-busting method I could get into. Sunday afternoon, I picked up one little pile of scraps from the cutting table with the idea that I would cut squares - I made 1.5-inch, 2-inch, and 2.5-inch squares of the entire pile.

Above is the little quilt I made using the 1.5-inch squares. After seeing some beautiful scrappy quilts using 4-patch blocks, I decided to make my own. I could continue adding to this, or I could call this one done, and then get started on a much bigger one.

Today, I spent some time playing around with the 2-inch squares. Again, I made 4-patches, and this time I tried adding triangles to provide for the square-in-a-square look.

The photo above shows all the steps of this effort. In the upper right, I have some 2-inch squares, and in the center of the photo, you see several 4-patch blocks. In the upper left corner, is the first surround of the square-in-a-square block. And, obviously at the bottom are 6 completed blocks. I really had fun making these, and I plan to continue on this to make lots more blocks. These blocks are 6.5-inches, so will be perfect for working into a full quilt.

Dealing with scraps is one goal of mine for 2020. It is a matter of necessity, really. For every quilt I have made in the last 30+ years, I have scraps. That's a plethora of scraps, which could be fun to work into some beauties. Right. I hope I have what it takes to stay with this.

Aren't these blocks great?!? I am motivated to keep going. That will last as long as my red fabric holds out. Then I will have to go digging for comparable reds to continue. That should not be a problem.

Happy Quilting,Friends!